Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 670

Under normal circumstances, Finnian Fairchild never had to bow to anyone.

But Hudson was different.

Despite being the same age, Hudson was already the undisputed patriarch of the Lancaster Family.

He held the exact same level of power as Finnian's father. Technically, Finnian was a step below him in the hierarchy.

Add to that his desire to buy into the Vanguard TBM Chip project, and Finnian had no choice but to swallow his pride.

As for Gavin Hamilton.

Finnian had his own strategic motives.

The Hamilton Family's influence in San Francisco was absolute.

Gavin was the eldest Hamilton son.

Finnian had been looking for an opportunity to partner with the Hamiltons for years. Now that Gavin was extending an olive branch, he wasn't going to play hard to get.

But right now, the meeting wasn't what was giving him a headache.

For some inexplicable reason, Jude Winslow had lost his mind.

He suddenly declared that he wanted to honor his engagement to Evangeline.

But the current Evangeline was nothing like the sweet, adorable little girl Jude remembered.

She was an absolute nightmare.

As her older brother, Finnian had swallowed his pride, painstakingly explaining that their parents hadn't abandoned her on purpose—they had been forced into an impossible situation.

Their mother was still missing, likely dead.

The simple fact that Evangeline was alive proved how much their mother loved her, sacrificing everything so her daughter could survive.

But Evangeline refused to listen. She stubbornly accused him of making up pathetic excuses.

Yet, for all her hostility, she had zero problems accepting the luxury goods, cash transfers, and real estate he gave her.

Finnian had already accepted that if she didn't want to be family, they wouldn't force it.

He would just mourn the sweet sister he remembered and accept that the girl in front of him wasn't her.

But Jude had completely lost his grip on reality, insisting on going through with the marriage, and Finnian couldn't talk him out of it.

Knowing Jude had been close friends with Hudson for years, Finnian decided to drag him along to San Francisco, hoping Hudson could slap some sense into him.

...

The meeting was set at Sebastian Caldwell's Argent Club.

Gavin was hosting, which meant Grant Hamilton was naturally dragged along to keep the drinks flowing.

"Gavin, why the hell did you drag me to a business meeting?" Grant slumped lazily against the leather sofa, scrolling through his phone, looking thoroughly annoyed by the corporate atmosphere.

"Drop the act..." Gavin shot him a cool glance. "Did Hudson give you any specific instructions before you got here?"

The waiters quickly filled the table with world-class delicacies.

But these men grew up eating caviar for breakfast; the spread meant nothing to them.

The conversation smoothly transitioned to the Vanguard TBM Chip project.

Finnian tactfully laid out his case for wanting to join the development team.

Before he could finish, Gavin cut straight to the core of the issue. "Finnian, if you want a piece of the chip project, there's one critical detail. If you can deliver it, you won't just be an investor—you could become one of the lead directors."

Finnian didn't believe in corporate fairytales. He let out a polite laugh. "You must be joking."

Gavin dropped the pleasantries. "Finnian, I'll be blunt. I'm here today for Felix Vaughn."

Finnian looked up, his expression hardening. He waited for Gavin to continue.

Given Gavin's vast intelligence network, figuring out that Felix Vaughn was tied to the Fairchilds was child's play.

"I know how Felix Vaughn is connected to your family, and I know she had the Ring Laser Gyro Technology. But she's been missing for twenty-five years. The government has been tearing the world apart looking for that data, and they've found nothing."

He paused, his voice dropping slightly. "Now that your sister has been found, is it possible... she has the data?"

Finnian let out a scoffing laugh. "Do you honestly think a toddler who went missing at age two would remember classified military schematics?"

He rolled up his sleeve, revealing a Woven Crimson Bracelet tied around his wrist.

"She doesn't even remember the things she pawned off when she was twelve."